Neil K. Warner - DAILY HERALD | Posted: Monday, June 16, 2008 11:00 pm
This is how it usually begins.
After a debriefing, the first thing Orem Owlz manager Tom Kotchman does is send his players to their various positions on the field and works on cuts and relays.
With a bat and no ball, Kotchman calls out, "No outs and no one on base." He swings his bat, and even though he doesn't use a ball, the players pretend to track down a ball and come up throwing, right at the cutoff man.
The first of the season begins with the basics and the end of the season usually involves a ring ceremony.
This is Orem Owlz baseball.
Monday afternoon at Brent Brown Ballpark in Orem, Kotchman took some time to talk about the upcoming season as part of the team's media day in preparation of today's season opener against the Ogden Raptors tonight at 7 p.m. in Orem.
What makes Kotchman's job so difficult is his players have just arrived from all over the country and even he needs a roster to figure out who's who.
"I couldn't tell you who half these guys are if my life depended on it," Kotchman said. "Obviously, that will change quick. As soon as we get the pictures taken and put the names with the faces, you put it together and study the reports as quick as you can. Hopefully we can keep our head above water early in the season and learn from there."
If it's any consolation, there are a few familiar faces who have returned from last year. One of those is outfielder Trevor Pippin. When he was asked how many of the Owlz players he knew, by first name, he said, "Probably half, or a little more than half. I'm doing pretty good."
Pippin admitted to being disappointed at not moving up the minor league ladder, but plans on making the most of his time in Orem.
"It's great to be back in Orem. It's a great place, great town, and we have great coaches here," Pippin said. "It's tough. You've got to swallow your pride, but it's the best thing for me right now. I'm not going to worry about the future. I'm just going to play here and enjoy my time."
In addition to Pippin, the Owlz return four other players from last year.
Pitchers Lou Green, Francis Cabrera, Leonardo Calderon are back along with outfielder Danato Giovanatto.
The pitching staff is intriguing. Kyle Hurst, son of former major League pitcher Bruce Hurst, is scheduled to pitch on Saturday night. He's a returned missionary who played at South Mountain Community College in 2008.
Another prospect to watch is Jon Plefka, a junior college pitcher and Division I basketball player (at Texas Tech), who will no doubt be asked to tell Bobby Knight stories all year.
Jose Perez is a scheduled to start tonight. He's already made a start in Cedar Rapids, the Los Angeles Angels' A affiliate. Joining Perez in the rotation figures to be Green, Hurst, Baron Short, a seventh-round pick from last year, and Jayson Miller, a 30th-round selection this year from Washington State.
The Owlz will likely get a boost down the road with the addition of a few other arms. Third-round pick Ryan Chaffee is recovering from an injury, and could miss the first half of the season, but if the Owlz do get him, he could be worth planning your night at the ballpark around.
He broke his ankle in April, but when he returned, he pitched a shutout in the Florida Junior College tournament and fanned 18.
Another pitcher who could bolster the staff in a few weeks is 13th-round pick Michael Kohn, a hard-throwing righty from the College of Charleston.
The roster has the makings of a winner. Now it will be up to longtime pitching coach Zeke Zimmerman, who once again will join Kotchman on staff, along with new hitting coach Brent Del Chiaro, who played under Kotchman in 2001, to mold this team into another champion.
"With Zeke Zimmerman and Tom Kotchman, you are always going to have guys who play hard and understand how to win and understand how to lose," said Owlz owner Jeff Katofsky. "Our expectations are that we'll have a winning ballclub. Whether you win it all in the end, you never know, but we had three out of four years. With Zeke and Kotch, you know they'll be in shape and we'll see a lot of big, hard-throwing kids with command and you'll see them hustling."
The Owlz will follow up their season opener tonight against Ogden with another game at home on Wednesday before playing at Casper on Thursday and Friday.
• Neil Warner can be reached at nwarner@heraldextra.com.